


imaginary beings, blankets, and other stories to fall in love to

by kintou



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff, M/M, Oneshot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-16
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:07:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,325
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23172157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kintou/pseuds/kintou
Summary: Sasuke is pissed off, because Kakashi has decided that their bookstore needs a freaking coffee corner without asking him first. The coffee corner isn't even the worst thing; it's the ugly old chairs, the obnoxious music, and the fact that the coffee shop owner is absolutely fucking gorgeous.Or: the one where Sasuke and Naruto try to run a bookstore/coffee shop together and fall in love.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 14
Kudos: 177





	imaginary beings, blankets, and other stories to fall in love to

The new guy carried a big old chair into the room. That chair was ugly as hell. Who’s grandma had died to give this guy all these chairs? The world would have been a lot better if she’d just hung onto life for a bit longer; kept her chair in her own fucking house. The bookstore was no place for furniture like this. It made me want to hurl. 

The guy himself though… well I guess he matched his ugly chairs. Obnoxious, loud, idiotic. Only he was, quite handsome. He had a slight tan, light hair, a nice build and.. ‘Kakashi, good morning! Can I make you a cup of coffee?’ Fuck, alright; a really nice smile. 

Kakashi walked into the store, fifteen minutes late, and smiled at the new guy. ‘That would be great!’ 

I was just placing the new poetry books in between the ones we already had. There weren’t a lot of promising ones this season, but there had been two that had impressed me.

Kakashi walked around all the furniture stalled in the front of the store and walked up to me ‘Good morning, Sasuke.’ 

I gave him a quick nod. 

‘Have you met Naruto?’ 

I sighed. ‘I’ve seen him walk in, that was enough.’ 

‘You two will be working together. I think it’s best if you two meet properly.’ 

I looked up, straightened my back. The shelf was looking fine, I wasn’t fooling anyone by staring at the books. ‘It would have been best if I had met him _before_ you hired him. It doesn’t matter now; my opinion doesn’t matter.’ 

‘I didn’t exactly hire him.. he kind of rents a part of our shop, I guess? Bookstores do best when they have their own a coffee shop, you know this.’ 

‘Whatever, doesn’t change that you didn’t fucking ask me anything.’ 

‘I’m the boss.’ 

‘You’re always in the other store. I’m going to have to deal with him.’ 

Kakashi shrugged, grinned. ‘Good luck, then.’ 

‘Fuck y-’ Before I could finish I noticed Naruto walking up to us with a big grin on his face. ‘Fuck..’ 

Naruto was holding a cup of coffee. The bar was ready for use, apparently. That meant it was just the chairs and decoration. In his car, I saw a lot (and I mean _a lot)_ of plants. Plants that could die, leave their leaves around the store, ugh. 

‘Here you go,’ He handed Kakashi his coffee, then turned to me. ‘You must be Sasuke.’ The bright grin appeared on his face again.

‘Hm.’

He held out his hand. Kakashi was smirking at me; waiting for me to be rude as hell. I just took Naruto’s hand, didn’t care for the drama. He said a quick ‘I’m Naruto.’ 

I said a slow ‘I know.’ 

‘It’s really nice to meet you.’ Naruto looked at me excitedly. Hee seemed to like what he was seeing; I was getting more annoyed by this idiot with the second. 

‘We need to open in half an hour, make sure that your chairs aren’t in the way.’ I turned back to the book shelf. 

‘Huh? Kakashi said we didn’t open until-’ 

‘Rule number one: don’t listen to Kakashi about time. Or anything at that.’ 

Kakashi chuckled: ‘You’re so good to me, kid.’ 

‘Don’t you have another store to run?’ I snapped back. 

He mumbled some complaints, but walked away from Naruto and me anyway. Naruto was still staring at me. ‘Can you help me put the chairs into place?’ 

I sighed. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask for a fucking coffee shop, or for this happy guy who would certainly fuck up my serene state of being. 

I didn’t fucking ask for those ugly chairs. 

‘Are you sure I won’t turn into a dead grandma if I do?’ 

He laughed. ‘You’re such an asshole.’ 

‘I hate to break it to you,’ I mumbled, really in need of some fucking coffee. ‘And I have my own business to finish. You’ll manage.’ 

Twenty minutes later Naruto had put all the chairs in their place and had even gotten out some of the plants that were standing in the car. It was weird to see a part of the store so full.. so different. 

I had gotten coffee from the machine in the back of the store. I put it into the mat black mug Itachi had gotten me for Christmas when we first started celebrating together again. 

Naruto was busy drilling one screw into the ceiling so that he could hang some plants. He hung the plant on there and smiled happily; as if that plant made the store for him. 

Then, he looked at me. ‘What do you thi- what’s that coffee?’ 

I looked at my mug, rolled my eyes. ‘It’s filter coffee from the back?’ 

Naruto stared at me as if I had just offended his mother; like he couldn’t fucking believe me. ‘You can get good coffee – you know – from me,’ 

‘This coffee is fine. Anyway, get rid of that ladder, we’re opening.’ 

He rolled his eyes and closed the ladder. ‘I’d like to make you some coffee, you know.’ 

I raised an eyebrow and sipped my coffee as if to make a point. 

He carried the ladder with one arm, like he was carrying a goddamn bag. ‘I’m not just here to bother you.’ 

‘Could have fooled me.’ I walked towards the front of the shop, turned the ‘closed’ sign around. ‘Just don’t talk to me when I’m reading.’ 

He shrugged and walked around the corner, then came back without the ladder in his arms. ‘You’re really just here to read, huh.’ 

‘This _is_ a bookstore.’ 

‘It’s not like I just drink coffee all day.’ 

I sighed. ‘Thank god for that. You’d be insufferable.’ 

Naruto just laughed at that. He went back to his small coffee corner. 

I’d hate to say it; but the coffee corner was doing well. People who bought their book went to sit on the old chairs and they all – fucking every single one of them – chatted with Naruto. Naruto, despite never promising not to annoy me, didn’t try to talk to me. What he did do was this; when the shop was calm for a second, and I was reading my book, he came up to me and put a good cup of coffee in front of me. He didn’t say anything about it. He turned around and got back to his own corner. When I glanced up though, I could see he was smiling a soft smile. That smile made my heart beat heavily. 

The day was kind of.. soft. Hearing him talk to strangers wasn’t that bad. He put coffee on my desk like that twice. Didn’t talk both times. Then when we closed up, he started humming to himself. I wondered if he was holding back a lot. He had seemed excited to talk to me. Everything about him screamed ‘energy’ and ‘kindness’. 

‘Can I put on some music?’ He asked. 

I looked up at him. ‘Depends on what you put on.’ 

He smiled, but didn’t ask what kind of music I liked. He went with “Awaken, my love!” and I could live with that. That was probably the best compromise he could have made. He glanced at me curiously because he had, then grinned at me. 

Something must have been showing on my face. 

I had to get rid of that. 

‘Sasuke.. You want to drink a cup of coffee together? To finish our first day right.. you know.’ 

‘No.’ 

‘Oh.. Okay. Sure. You’ve got somewhere to be.’ I didn’t. I didn’t want to hang around this handsome new guy any longer. I didn’t want to start this thing off at the wrong foot. With me fucking.. lusting after this guy. It wouldn’t fucking end right. 

I didn’t even like him. 

‘Right. Are you done yet?

‘Yes almost.’ He sounded nervous. 

The next few days were... the same. I opened up and he came in a little later. The first fucking thing he did was making me a cup of coffee and putting it on the desk. He chatted with me about the weather or whatever the fuck he wanted to bother me with, and after a while he’d realise I wasn’t interested. 

He stopped putting cookies next to my coffee after two days; noticing that I wasn’t eating them and eating them himself. 

Then, after five days, he finally got to me with something. He brought me coffee again, smiling at me like only he could. Stupidly. Kind of beautiful. Like nothing in the world bothered him; everything amazed him. Or maybe I amazed him. Whatever it was, that smile was too much. ‘What are you reading?’ 

‘Why do you care?’ 

‘Maybe I need recommendations.’ 

I raised an eyebrow at him. He was far from surprised by it. He probably knew he looked like a guy who only read comic books. ‘Borges.’ I simply said. 

‘Any good?’ 

‘He’s one of the most famous Spanish writers in history.’ 

He snorted. ‘That doesn’t mean anything. Do _you_ think it’s good?’ 

I put my book down and took the coffee he had put on the counter. I slowly sipped it, thinking about his question. ‘Hm.. yeah I do.’ 

‘Why?’ 

‘Don’t you have a coffee corner to run?’ 

‘As you can see, there’s no one in. So why is Boreg so good?’ 

‘It’s Borges. Jorge Luis Borges.’ 

‘So why is he good? I trust your opinion.’ 

‘He’s... magical and realistic at the same time. There are more people who write like that, of course, but not many people mastered it like he has.’ 

Now Naruto was smiling excitedly. ‘That sounds awesome, actually! I love magical stuff.’ 

I took another sip of my coffee and took my book back into my hands. ‘You probably read fantasy, or comics.’ 

Naruto leaned onto the counter cockily. ‘Graphic Novels, yeah. I have a hard time reading long texts. Anyway, do I hear some judgement there, hm Sasuke? People who illustrate not good enough for you?’ 

I shrugged, not feeling like discussing it with him. Maybe he was right. Graphic novels were just… not my alley. I didn’t want to talk to him about them. 

‘They’re works of art, assho-’ That’s when the door of the shop opened. Naruto gave me another glance, a more serious look on his face now, and then went back to the coffee corner. He called a sweet ‘welcome!’ to the customers. 

And I was left with my heart beating loudly. 

I hadn’t expected.. I hadn’t expected him to fight back in conversations like this. I hadn’t expected this guy, who knew absolutely none of the books in the store, to be so interesting to talk to about it. 

To get passionate and mad about his favourite works like I would. 

I tried to focus on the book in my hand. 

I kept on glancing up and the blonde man making coffee. 

Throughout the rest of the day Naruto didn’t bring up our conversation. He kept on putting coffee on the desk. He kept on humming and talking to all the customers. His coffee was so fucking good. The shop felt so much more lively and I.. I could only think about leaving and going home. Hiding from him. 

Maybe because he was all I was not. 

I didn’t exactly know what it was. 

Later than day, during closing time, Kakashi came in. He greeted Naruto excitedly and then walked towards the back of the shop. When I was there he signed for me to come closer to him. I left the desk and did what he told me to. I wondered what the hell he needed me in the back of the store for. ‘How’s it going, Sasuke?’ 

‘Fine.’ 

He nodded excitedly. ‘And how is it going with Naruto here?’ 

‘He’s here. Whatever.’ 

Kakashi rolled his eyes; not even slightly amused by my childish attitude. ‘Sasuke, I trust you. I didn’t leave the shop to you just to fuck around. How is it going with Naruto here?’ 

‘He’s-’ How was it to work with Naruto? It was frustrating and distracting. He was annoying and kept on making noise. He was beautiful and he reminded me of how fucking lonely I was all the fucking time. ‘He’s doing a good job. People like that he’s here.’ I sighed. ‘It’s just so fucking distracting, and loud. It used to be so quiet here and now there’s always fucking noise- I fucking- it’s annoying- but-’ 

Kakashi glanced behind me. Bit his lip. 

I followed his eyes. 

Naruto was standing with a cup of coffee in his hands, probably ready to give it to one of us. I cursed myself. He probably fucking heard all of that. He just- he was just a new guy trying to start something.  
And I was a selfish dick, not about to apologize. 

Kakashi knew that too. 

‘Kakashi-’ Naruto started. ‘I made you some coffee before cleaning the machine.’ He put the coffee down on the nearest table. ‘So- eh- I’ll be leaving now.’ And with that, breaking my fucking heart, he turned around and walked towards the exit. He took his jacket, his bag, and then left without saying another goodbye. 

A small part inside of me wanted to stop him. I wanted to stop him so fucking bad but it was just- what I had said was true. 

Kakashi breathed out loudly. ‘That was- something.’ 

I shrugged, trying to seem casual. 

‘So what’s your real reason to hate him?’ 

‘I don’t fucking hate him. I can’t get used to him.’ 

‘You seem used to him.’ 

‘He talks all the time, and he tries to get me to talk to him, and he sings- he fucking sings Kakashi.’ 

‘And you think that that’s a bad thing? Someone trying to talk to you despite you being an asshole?’ 

‘I am an asshole so people don’t talk to me.’ 

‘Don’t kid yourself.’ 

I glared at him. Still I didn’t say anything more. I had enough drama for the day. 

‘Naruto is the kind of person you can’t stand because you know he’s capable of breaking that attitude.’ 

‘Shut up. You don’t know me.’ 

‘You don’t have to say I’m right. I don’t care what you do.’ He took the cup of coffee and drank all of it at ones. ‘Ah- that’s good.’ he said. 

I knew that. 

I knew that Naruto’s coffee was good. 

And that his smile was sweet. 

If he’d ever show it to me again. 

I couldn’t stop thinking about his face. I couldn’t help but think about how his posture had changed that second, how he had become a walking bag of insecurity from those words. I started wondering why they had hit them so hard- I don’t know what was going on with me. 

Sasuke Uchiha- trying to empathise. Ha. Trying to fucking figure out someone’s feelings until fucking midnight. Not being able to sleep because someone – a fucking gorgeous dude – wasn’t feeling well. At night I sat up in my bed. I fucking hated my own brain. I grabbed my new selected poems from my nightstand and started reading. Sleep wasn’t going to hit me any time soon. I could only think about blue eyes, blue eyes, blue eyes, blue sad fucking eyes. _‘So what’s your real reason to hate him?’_ a voice in my mind repeated in my mind. I slammed the book against my forehead; I wished to disappear, just so I didn’t have to face him that next morning. 

He walked in at half past eight, without a single word. He seemed fidgety but started the coffee machine in silence. I watched him work. Not once did he look at me; that was weird, he usually always glanced up. I pretended not to notice the secret smiles he gave me but he had done so all week. 

When he had started his machines, he walked to his bag and took out a big book. With that book in his hands, he walked my way nervously. My heart literally skipped a beat. Okay. Okay maybe I was the nervous one. It was so obvious that I had been watching him and I didn’t know if he’d say anything about it. 

But – to my surprise – he only placed the book on top of my counter. It was an incredibly thick, blue book. On the cover it said ‘ _Blankets’._ It looked like a graphic novel. An incredibly well made one too. 

‘What’s this?’ I asked Naruto, finally daring to look up at him.

He still had his eyes on the book. ‘My favourite graphic novel.’ His voice sounded weak. ‘I think.. I think you’ll appreciate it. The story is kind of sad and the illustrations are absolutely magical.’ 

I bit my lip. Why was he being like this? Why wasn’t he getting mad at me? I had said such incredibly rude shit about him and he was just going to show me his favourite book? ‘Why?’ 

‘What?’ 

‘Why are you showing me this?’ 

‘I thought you might want to read it. I mean.. You didn’t seem too keen on graphic novels so I thought I’d-’ 

‘Why are you giving me stuff? What the fuck is your problem?!’ 

‘My problem?! I’m just trying!’ His eyes snapped up at mine, completely surprised at my reaction and somewhere.. also angry. Thank god there was anger in those eyes. I deserved every bit of it. 

‘Fuck off. You don’t have to be nice to me! I don’t need a fucking peace offering.’ 

‘It’s not a fucking peace-offering. I just want to talk about fucking books with you, what the hell is so hard to understand about that?’ He sighed loudly. ‘I know you don’t fucking want me here, okay? But I can’t do it. I can’t be quiet and I’m sorry about that. It’s so fucking hard for me to keep still and to not fidget, or sing, or-’ He stopped himself in the middle of his sentence, stared at me for a few seconds, and then looked away as if pained. 

‘It’s okay.’ It was barely a whisper, but it definitely came from my mouth. 

‘No it’s not. I ruined your perfect job with my annoying-’ 

‘It’s fucking okay. Don’t make me repeat it.’ 

Now he stared at me, wide eyes, and nodded very slowly. ‘Okay...’ he whispered. 

‘Thank you for the book. It looks interesting.’ 

That surprised him. With wide eyes he caught mine. We stared at each other for a few seconds, and then he grinned brightly. He said: ‘You’re welcome.’ He made me feel mushy. Thank god he turned around and walked toward his own coffee corner. 

Thank god those movements were once again giddy, happy, confident.

When the first customers came in he greeted them excitedly. Something inside of me calmed down. I picked up _Blankets_ and opened it to the first page. The illustrations were truly.. magical, like he had called them. They were dark and overwhelming. 

I leaned on my hand, and started reading. My eyes followed the page. I was feeling a little breathless at how beautiful the work was. Page after page after page. Some illustrations held my attention for minutes. The story of two brothers.. trying to protect each other. It really hit differently, I guess. 

‘Excuse me, sir?’ 

I looked up at the girl in front of me, holding the new Murakami. ‘Oh, excuse me.’ I mumbled quickly. I pushed away the novel. She held out the book for me, I took it. 

‘That good?’ she asked, giving me quite _a look_.

‘Hn..’ I put the book into a paper bag for her. ‘Just started.’ 

She nodded and handed me the money. ‘It seems interesting.’ 

‘We don’t sell it. Enjoy your book.’ I mumbled. 

She nodded, in confusion, while taking her book. ‘Thank you. Eh, see you.’ 

Something was wrong with me today. I wasn’t acting like myself. I closed my eyes for a second. I was damn lucky that it was such a calm day at the store- 

‘Sasuke!’ 

‘Fuck-’

Naruto chuckled. ‘Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare you.’ 

I looked down. ‘No, it’s alright.’ 

Naruto put a cup of coffee in front of me. ‘You seem tired.’ 

‘I’m fine.’ If he wouldn’t sneak into my mind at night anymore, I would be. 

He chuckled and held out a cup of coffee. ‘You sure? I got you coffee.’ He was smiling brightly, held out a cup full of delicious black coffee. 

‘Well, I won’t say no to that.’ 

He leaned against the counter, smiling softly. In his coffee corner people were talking quietly among themselves. The girl who just bought Murakami was reading it right there. She seemed invested in it already. They seemed to be enjoying themselves, the jazz classics I had playing, the soft atmosphere. 

It was soft; honestly. I just hadn’t exactly realised it like this before. 

‘Sasuke,’ Naruto looked at me with a warm look in his eyes. ‘Recommend me something.’ 

‘What kind of something?’ 

‘Whatever you think I’d enjoy.’ 

‘I don’t know what you like.’

I brought his hand up to his neck, slowly but mindlessly he rubbed his neck. A nervous habit of his. ‘But you’re an amazing bookseller. I’m sure you’ll manage.’ 

‘I think you’d enjoy _Spring_ , my Ali Smith. It’s a genius mess, she’s fearless. You’d also like short stories by Murakami. They’re fun, short but very good. I like his longer books best; with him it almost seems that the long the book, the more interesting it gets. But I guess that asking you to read _The Wind-up Bird Chronicles_ might be a bit much so-’ shit.. that was.. 

‘So?’ Naruto asked, kindly. 

‘So, maybe some _The Elephant Disappears_.’ 

Naruto nodded excitedly. ‘Thanks, Sasuke. You’re really good at what you do.’ 

I rolled my eyes, though his compliment made my heart stop for a second. ‘Of course I am.’ 

Let me tell you about our next days together, in that old bookstore. Naruto laughed with customers, made the best coffee’s, and grinned up at me like I made him happy. I made a list of books he would be able to read, in the early morning before he came in. That first day I sold a lady eight books, and once she walked out Naruto gave me a grin thumbs up. She had bought what I had recommended, Naruto’s words rang through my mind. _You’re really good at what you do._ I hadn’t heard that a lot, since I dropped studying law for literature. Itachi had once told my parents: ‘If you want to prove that it was worth it, you have to show us that you’re happy.’ But honestly, I hadn’t been. I lost myself in books while hating myself for being worthless. Now, quite suddenly, I kept on hearing: _‘you're good at what you do.’_ _‘You're good at what you do.’_ _‘You're good at what you do.’_ Then when I looked up Naruto would be grinning at someone, or at me. 

So I walked through the shop and got all the books off that special ‘books Naruto will like’ list. I took all the books I could carry into my arms, ignored Naruto’s curious glance, and then walked up to the coffee corner. 

That was my first time actually walking into the coffee corner. 

It wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. 

I dropped all the books on Naruto’s table. He looked at them like they were the door to a new universe; like he couldn’t believe his damn eyes. ‘The books you ordered.’ 

‘I- I didn’t-’ 

‘The books I told you you’d enjoy.’ 

Now he grinned, and nodded. ‘This is awesome, thanks.’ 

‘Start with one Murakami story, to get going.’ 

He nodded and took the thick book full of short stories into his hands. ‘Awesome..’ He mumbled softly. ‘Thank you, Sasuke.’ 

I nodded. His soft voice was shaking me up, quite a bit. 

‘Will you sit down with me? It’s not busy.’ 

To my own surprise, I nodded slowly. ‘Sure.. I’ll have a-’ 

That’s when the bell of the store rang. A group of friends, a few women that seemed to be in their thirties, walked in. They were chatting among themselves and giggled sweetly. 

I looked at them, then at Naruto. 

Naruto looked.. a bit lost. 

‘Sorry,’ I mumbled. 

I don’t know why, it wasn’t my fault they had just walked in. Even if Naruto was slowly getting to me; we were running a shop. We were just colleagues. 

That day I took _Blankets_ home with me. I read it while eating my dinner. I read it before going to sleep. I read it while I was supposed to be sleeping. I read it until four AM, and then when I had finally finished it, I fell asleep with a loud beating in my chest. 

Birds were already singing. 

I stared up at the ceiling. 

I replayed the story in my head. Brother’s taking care of each other. Parents that make you anxious. Falling in love and feeling safe in each other’s arms. Letting love go even if- even if you really know you don’t want to. 

Because sometimes love is just not meant to be, even if you are willing to fight for it. 

That day I ordered _Blankets_ for the store. I did so as soon as I got in. When Naruto came into the store he just offered me a soft smile, before making me a cup of coffee. I watched him brew the coffee carefully. One for himself, and then one for me. He poured some sugar into his own, took mine with him without doing the same.

I guess he was really starting to figure me out; he brought me coffee before speaking to me. ‘Did you sleep well?’ He asked. 

‘Read that book of yours until four.’ I answered. 

‘You did that to yourself.’ He chuckled. 

‘Hm.. I guess I did.’ I took the cup from his hand, brought it to my lips. Like always; his coffee was amazing. Everything I needed. ‘I might need another cup after this one.’ 

‘Now that, I can help you with.’ He said. 

‘I- eh-’ Naruto glanced up, curiously. ‘I just ordered some copies of _Blankets_ for the store. You’re right. We should have more books like that. I don’t want to be like every normal bookstore.’ 

Naruto grinned. ‘You’re amazing.’ 

‘I’m not- I just- eh- I was wondering if you could recommend some more?’ 

Naruto nodded excitedly. ‘Damn sure I can.’ 

I signed for Naruto to come sit with me behind the counter, looking over an ipad. He was sitting so close to me. His underarm touched mine, made my skin fucking burn. ‘Tell me.’ 

‘So I personally really like _Bloom._ It’s a little soft and cheesy though. It’s about two boys, working in a bakery, falling in love.’ He made my face burn, my mind burn, he made me burn, burn, burn. ‘It’s beautifully drawn. Wait. Google it-’ 

‘I don’t usually read soft books.’ 

‘It’s important to have some queer stuff, though.’

I stared at him, probably like I was dumb as hell. Something turned inside of me. ‘Are you gay?’ 

He snorted. ‘Bi. Why? You’ve got a problem? Want me to stop making you coffee-’ 

‘Wow calm down, idiot. I don’t care about who you fuck.’ 

‘You don’t?’ 

I turned to him in horror. ‘What the fuck is that supposed to mean?’ 

‘I- eh- it’s nothing.’ 

I stared at him. 

He squirmed under my gaze. 

‘Sasuke..’

‘What?’ 

‘Get back to the books.’ 

I rolled my eyes. ‘Tell me which one you like, then.’ 

After our working day Naruto made two cups of coffee. He didn’t ask me anything, and mainly because of that I walked to his coffee corner. I sat down on one of those old ugly chairs. I guess I looked out of place. 

Naruto smiled, put a cup of coffee on my table. ‘I read one of the Murakami stories. About the characters stealing burgers. It was hilarious.’ 

‘That’s cool.’ 

‘So I was thinking- do you want to order some food, stay here for a while?’ 

I looked up at him. Something inside of me did. I didn’t want to go home to my empty apartment. Actually, I never wanted to go home to my empty apartment. 

It felt weird to me that Naruto could want the same. He seemed like the guy who’d come home to a partner, or friends at least. I could see him living together with a few of his friend. Them drinking beers at night, laughing loudly. 

‘Why?’ 

‘It’ll be fun.’ 

‘Don’t you have anything to do?’ 

‘Nah. My roomy just moved in with his girlfriend and it’s.. It’s been boring.’ 

‘Great. So now I can entertain you.’ I sipped my coffee, avoided his eyes. 

‘Shut up! You know you’re not.’ 

‘Do I now?’ 

‘Yeah! I like you.’ 

I put my coffee down, looked him into his eyes. The fucking idiot seemed to mean it. He.. was such a damn fool. How could he say things like that so easily?

‘Fine. Call in pizza.’ 

‘Yes! I knew you were fun.’ 

‘News to me.’ He laughed, stood up to go get the Ipad, and opened a site. ‘You want to share two pizzas?’ 

‘Depends on your taste, idiot.’ 

‘The taste of a young Gorden Ramsay,’ he jokes. 

I couldn’t help but smile at that. ‘You know what? I’m leaving.’ 

‘Asshole. Pizza vegetariana?’ 

‘Put on some music!’ Naruto danced around with a slice of pizza in his hand. I laughed at him and turned to the spotify playlist. There was music playing; jazz, though. Very soft jazz. Like there always was, and he wanted something more. 

I’d help him get it; he was getting me in the mood too. Two half-finished pizza’s on one of his tables, beers next to it. I put on the best of Disco classics, just like the mood was asking for. Naruto grinned brightly. 

‘Sasuke, my hero!’ 

‘You’re an idiot.’ 

‘You like disco.’ 

‘I do not. You’re predictable.’ 

Naruto grinned, took one of the beers and pushed it into my hand. He had almost finished his second one already. 

‘If you make a mess of this store I’ll-’ 

Naruto came nose to nose with me. He made it hard for me to breathe. He seemed so fucking… interested. ‘What will you do, Sasuke?’

I chuckled, pushing him away. ‘Mess your coffee corner up.’ 

Naruto laughed brightly. ‘Just take your beer, Sasuke.’ 

I did. Our fingers softly touched when I took it. He looked into my eyes, mischievously. 

‘Dance with me?’ 

‘Fuck off.’ I walked towards the pizza, took another piece. Naruto danced towards me and then sat down in front of me. On one of those ugly grandma chairs. Those damn chairs. He moved to the happy tunes, I laughed at him while eating. 

‘See, you’re having a good time!’ 

‘You’re a fool.’

‘That’s not a no.’ 

I shrugged, at my pizza. While watching him dance. Until quite suddenly he stopped, perked up, said: ‘Neh, Sasuke, tell me more about yourself.’

I chuckled, took a sip of my beer. ‘I like books.’

‘Duh.’ 

I laughed softly. ‘And cats.’ 

‘You do!? Awesome! Tell me more.’ 

‘Purple.’ 

‘What?’ 

‘The colour purple, it’s my favorite.’ 

‘That’s really cool!’ 

I snorted, I was making such a big deal out of all these small things. I could see though, that to him I was suddenly becoming more human. ‘I used to study law.’ 

‘I can totally see that! You, studying law, having a major stick up your ass.’ 

‘I couldn’t. My parents really wanted me to do that. They hated that I started studying literature. Told be I was on my own from there.’ I replied. That silenced Naruto. He nervously stared at me. ‘Law just.. really wasn’t for me.’ 

‘I know. You and literature.. you two are a real power couple.’ 

I laughed brightly. I hadn’t expected that, for me to laugh that brightly. To really feel that happy feeling all the way down to my spine. All the things my parents had said somehow.. disappeared. Literature was for me. It really was. Naruto had seen through all those jokes, he wasn’t like my parents, he saw that I _enjoyed_ this. He saw that I felt fucking alive when reading. 

Or when recommending books. 

When ordering them, seeing them, selling them, opening them, listening to them. 

‘Fuck your parents, is what I’m trying to say.’ 

‘Naruto-’

‘No, honestly. Fuck anyone who doesn’t want you happy. Fuck anyone who isn’t like this Boreg, or this Murakami guy to you.’ 

‘It’s Borges.’ 

Naruto laughed. ‘You’re amazing Sasuke. Get it through your head.’ 

‘You’re crazy.’ 

‘Sasuke..’ Naruto took my hand from over the table. ‘You get me excited about reading. That’s really something, you know that? I didn’t read a fucking word in high school.’ 

‘That’s hardly surprising.’ 

Naruto chuckled and looked into my eyes. ‘I love seeing you read. It.. it makes me excited to do the same.’ 

‘You should. Try it sometimes, it’s fun.’ 

‘I know.’ He grabbed my hand from the table, shyly but determined. He laced his fingers with mine. I looked up at him, in surprise, but let him hold my hand. ‘I know,’ he repeated. 

‘What are you doing?’ 

He shrugged. ‘Nothing much.’

I looked at our hands, laced together. ‘Right.’ 

Shyly, he looked at my eyes. He bit his lip. ‘Hey Sasuke..’ The shyness in his voice hit me differently. He wasn’t a shy guy; he knew what he wanted. Always. He was straight to the point and good hearted and- I didn’t get why he was being so- ‘Will you- maybe- will you let me kiss you?’ 

My eyes snapped up to his eyes, then his mouth. Just to see if he was being serious. Why would a guy like him want to kiss me? Was he a fucking idiot? We didn’t- he’s amazing but I couldn’t- 

It was stupid. 

It was a stupid fucking idea. 

‘N-no.’ 

Naruto let go of my hand. ‘No?’ 

I pulled away. ‘No. Are you an idiot? We’re running this store together.’ 

‘Is that the reason?’ 

My throat felt thick and closed. My insides were tingling. I felt like I was going to throw up. I had to tell him no. No. No. No. (I wanted to tell him yes, but that voice was scary, maybe not even mine.) ‘Our relationship is professional, Naruto.’ 

‘What?’ 

‘A business relationship. We- this isn’t a thing. Whatever you think this is- it’s not.’ 

Naruto stared at me, his eyes wide. He was hurting. I made him hurt. 

That was for the better. 

He was a fool for thinking this could be a thing. 

I was an even bigger fool for dreaming this could ever be a thing. 

I stood up while feeling like it was slowly becoming black in front of my eyes, stains covering my sights, shooting through my brain. ‘I’m leaving. Please clean up.’ 

Naruto stared into nothing. He didn’t even glance at me when I grabbed my coat, walked towards the door. Then, when I finally touched the door, he called. 

‘Sasuke..’ 

‘Yes.’ 

He bit his lip. ‘I’m sorry.’ 

I opened the door. ‘I am too.’ 

I went home and felt.. Nothing. I wanted to cry, but never learnt how to. I felt drunk but didn’t want to give into it. I felt empty, and run over, and terrible, and in the first time in forever I felt.. Fuck.. I felt loved. 

People came on to be all the time, don’t get me wrong. Girls asked me to date them on the daily, guys wanted a good fuck on dark evening, people had asked me on dates. That wasn’t what was new about it. 

This time it had really hit me. I felt good that he - of all people - wanted something from me. What he wanted was maybe something.. Something I’d be able to give. He knew me. He knew me as someone who just wanted to read books all fucking day. Someone who needed coffee before being spoken to. Someone who can be an asshole. Someone who you can swoon with your favorite book and some: ‘fuck you if you think this books sucks.’ 

I knew that I had fallen in love with him.

It was still a stupid fucking idea. 

I poured myself a glass of whiskey, got my pack of cigarettes from my kitchen cabinet, and lit it. Calmly breath in, breath out, tried to get those blue eyes to leave me with the smoke. His voice pealed in my head. It said soft: _I’m sorry’_ s. 

Fuck. His voice had sounded so hopeful. _Will you let me kiss you?_ I let my shoulders fall, breathed in slowly, I felt my chest ache. Fuck. _You’re amazing._

_Neh, Sasuke._

_Hey… Sasuke._

_Sasuke… I made you some coffee._

I let my hand slide over my crotch, let out a pained sound, to my own surprise. 

_Sasuke.. Will you let me kiss you?_ It ached. It fucking ached. My body did, my brain, my chest, my dick, every fucking bit of me seemed confused by his confession. 

I pushed my dick down. I didn’t fucking need this. I didn’t want to long after him like a nasty fucking bastard. My entire self felt so.. disgusting. 

I had to stop thinking about him. 

Anything but blue eyes, big hands, that bright grin. 

But I couldn’t help fuck wonder what it would be like to have him waking up next to me, his hair a big mess, and that hoarse voice saying: _‘I’ll make you some coffee.’_

Or worse. That goddamn ‘ _Will you let me kiss you?’_ again. 

I pushed my cigarette out, threw it into the trash, and turned to walk towards the bathroom. I was disgusting. I pulled out my shirt. My dick was hurting in my tight pants. 

My heart was hurting in my tight chest. 

I let the shower run, looked into the mirror while pulling out my pants. I looked nothing like myself. I looked panicked, tired and completely messed up. 

Naruto had messed me up, and it didn’t look like I was going back to being myself any time soon. So instead I stepped inside of the shower, pushed my head underwater, and washed the memory off me. 

Let Naruto’s touch go down into the drain. 

Naruto was late the next day. I started dramatically cleaning, sorting, packing some books, emailing Kakashi. As long as I was working it was fine. I could focus on the books, as long as Naruto wasn’t there yet. 

As soon as he did get in, though, my heart tumbled straight onto the floor. He nodded at me, without anything that even looked like a smile on his face, and then walked straight to his coffee corner. 

I just tried to fucking breathe.

We worked. We did. And he even brought me some coffee like he always did. He tried to smile and looked absolutely fucking ungenuine. 

And I only realised right there and then, how genuine he had always been.  
The entire day we danced around each other. Naruto showed his nervousness way more than I did. When he heard my voice he glanced over his shoulders, and when he brought my coffee he almost seemed to shake. 

I don’t think he noticed that I kind of felt the same. 

I even think he believed what I had told him. 

_That this didn’t mean anything. At all._

Our next weeks were like that. Naruto and I talked the bare minimum amount. Naruto seemed to get a bit of his smile back when he talked to customers. I went back into my own world again. I read my poetry and sold my bestsellers. 

One day the books Naruto and I had ordered together came in. It was half an hour before we’d open. The postman brought them in, put them next to the ugly ass chairs in the coffee corner. I nodded at him before he walked away. 

Naruto hadn’t come in yet. 

So I got my keys out of my pocket and opened the box. The first one I opened was _Blankets_ , right away. Something inside of me stopped. I took one book out of the big box, held it in my hands. I remember the way Naruto had used this book as his peace offering. Slowly, I opened the book. I watched the main character fall in love again. I watched him think about her as the most beautiful person alive. His savior. I watched them lose it. I watched them grow apart. I watched the loneliness. 

I breathed in. 

I choked when I tried to breathe out. A sob came out of my nose, even scaring the hell out of myself. My chest ached, my eyes burned and before I knew it.. I was sobbing right onto the pages of the book. 

Drips sinking into the pages. 

My throat closed up. I had to calm down. I needed to breathe again. This was my own fucking fault and it wasn’t enough to.. cry about. It had been the best and most rational choice. 

So why did this book make me feel like Naruto was the door to happiness right now? Why did he make me so damn dramatic. 

I closed the book, dried my tears with the sleeve of my sweater. Fuck. Fuck. I had to- 

The door opened. Without wanting to my eyes shot it’s way. Two blue eyes stared right back at me, surprised, confused, worried as hell. Naruto walked my way without a single hint of hesitation. ‘What happened?’ 

‘Nothing.’ I put the book back into the box, stood up. 

Naruto was quicker, though. He took my wrists in his hands and stared at me. ‘You’re not okay. What happened?’ 

I glared at him, hoping to scare him away. ‘I said that it’s nothing.’ 

‘Well, you’re a fucking liar. What is going o-’ He stopped talking, distracted. I followed his eyes and saw him look at… the books. He swallowed, let go of my wrists just slightly. ‘Oh, the books came in.’ 

‘Hm..’ 

He stared at the books for a second, then at my teary face. He seemed to be thinking about it. ‘Sasuke.. I don’t think I explained it very well.. last time.’ 

‘I don’t want to hear it.’ 

‘You’ve proved to be a liar, so I’m going to say it anyway.’ He chuckled. It didn’t sound like there was actually any humour in it. He didn’t even smile. He just closed his eyes, for a second, and breathed in deeply. Then he looked up, into my eyes, and held my gaze. ‘I like you. I think we match. I think we’d be good. I even think.. I even think you understand me and I understand you. I can’t explain it very well, Sasuke, but I want you to give me a chance.’ 

‘This won’t work.’ I stared right back at him; not about to back down. 

‘Why? Because you don’t like me? Because despite everything, you haven’t said you don’t like me. Not once.’ 

‘Well, I don’t.’ 

He bit his lip. He seemed hurt by my words, but at the same time he didn’t seem to believe them. ‘I don’t believe you. Be honest with me, Sasuke. What the hell is going on in your head? You’re not okay.’ 

I pulled back. He let go of my wrists. ‘You don’t like me.’ 

‘I’ll decide that for myself. I like you. I like the way you read books, I like your cold words, I like the way you smile a little when you like the coffee you’re drinking, I even like that soft fucking jazz you always listen to, I like the way you love your work, I like the-’ 

‘Shut the fuck up.’ 

He couldn’t know me that well. He couldn’t have seen all those things happening. 

Except, he could. He could have if he was looking at me the exact same way I was looking at me. He could like those things about me just like I liked the way he used one thumb to press the coffee together, or how he snickered at thought he’d just had, or how he grinned when trying to talk to me. 

If he… had looked at me the way I had looked at him. 

He spoke up very, very softly: ‘It’s true.’ 

And pulled him into the fucking chair by his colar. I grabbed his hair and pushed my lips against his roughly. He immediately grabbed my face, holding my cheeks as if he was holding onto a diamond. He opened his lips for me, I pulled him closer by his hair, pulled him against me. 

He touched me like this was the last chance he was going to get. He touched my cheeks, my ears, my hair, my hip. He pushed his nose against mine while turning his head, he seemed to want to taste, feel and breathe in all of me. 

Somehow, in that second, I felt the same. 

I didn’t know what this would mean, what would happen in the future, but at least I had right now.

When I pulled back, Naruto whispered an out of breath ‘Holy fucking shit.’ 

I smirked. That was quite the truth. _Holy fucking shit_ true indeed. 

‘What was that?’ Naruto asked. And then he quickly added: ‘Don’t say nothing, please.’ 

I tried to breathe for a few seconds longer, and then went with: ‘I don’t know. It was something.’ 

Naruto grinned at me. He looked so fucking happy, so fucking happy about everything. ‘Quite something.. Eh- do you, want to talk about it?’ 

His smile brought shivers to my skin. I felt like I was about to faint. ‘Let’s give these books a spot first, let’s talk after.’ 

Naruto nodded, put his hand against my neck and pulled me in for one more kiss. That kiss was soft. A soft kiss is always more dangerous than any heavy kiss. Still I allowed him. I kissed him back as softly as I could. 

He pulled back. ‘Say, Sasuke...’ He put his arms around the box and lifted it. ‘I just want you to know that I’m.. I’m serious.’ And with that he brought the box to the back of the store. I was still holding the version I had cried on. 

Maybe Naruto wanted that version. 

Maybe I’d be allowed to keep the one he had loaned me that first week. 

‘How are my favourite boys doing?’ Kakashi walked into the shop like he.. well.. like he owned it. Which he was allowed to do, I guess. He had a smirk on his face. Naruto! Can you make me some coffee?’ 

Naruto said a happy ‘Sure!’ because that was his mood for the day. I just rolled my eyes at his behavior. Kakashi chuckled at his turn, chuckled at my reaction. 

Then, he walked through the shop towards me slowly. His eyes quickly found the new graphic novels. He picked _Blankets_ from the table, opened it with raised eyebrows. ‘Sasuke, did you order this?’ 

I leaned on the counter, smirked slightly. ‘Yeah, I did.’ 

‘It looks good.’ 

Naruto walked in with two cups of coffee in his hand. He put one on the counter next to my hand, gave me the softest fucking smile known to mankind. My entire stomach tumbled right the fuck out of me. My mind became blank, for a second. Until Naruto perked up: ‘Hey, that book is my favourite.’ 

Kakashi looked up, now almost grinning. ‘Is it now, Naruto?’ 

‘Yeah! It’s awesome.’ 

‘He showed me,’ I said. 

Kakashi was still nodding mockingly. He was really getting a kick out of this. He waited though, like he often did, before saying anything more. He sipped his coffee, mumbled: ‘Coffee’s really good again.’ 

‘Thanks!’ Naruto leaned against the counter. He stayed close to me. I wondered if he noticed how he was lingering. How he seemed to be forming a team with me, naturally. The two of us against everyone. The two of us against kakashi. The two of us against the entire world. 

It wasn’t that bad. 

I sipped my coffee, waited. 

‘Glad to see you two are getting along.’ 

‘Yeah, we are!’ I wondered if Naruto meant that. We had ignored each other for weeks, and I had been an incredible drama queer; crying all over his favourite book. We had yelled at each other and then kissed as if we wanted to punch each other with our mouths.

I wouldn’t exactly call that getting along. 

But I wouldn’t want to run the shop without him anymore. 

‘Sasuke?’ Kakashi asked. 

‘Hm.. It’s true.’ 

While Kakashi eyed me suspiciously, Naruto was beaming. Kakashi decided to drop it. He asked Naruto about the coffee corner. How many customers stayed. If he was enjoying the work. If it was a good idea to make a special corner for special themed books, stuff like that. I let them talk. 

Then, quite suddenly to me, Kakashi said: ‘I need a word with Sasuke as well. You can leave if you want to.’ 

Naruto shook his head. ‘I’ve got some things left to do.’ He gave me an excited grin. I guess that whatever he needed to do, had something to do with me. But he still walked away to his own coffee corner, leaving us alone for a second. Kakashi walked to the back of the store, where Naruto could no longer see us. I followed behind him slowly. 

‘You seem nervous.’ Kakashi said. 

I hadn’t noticed that. 

I hadn’t even felt that.  
‘Something’s off. Is it Naruto?’ he added. 

I swallowed. I thought about how Naruto had kissed me senseless that morning. Today I had felt fearless. I had felt like the whole world could explode without me noticing. 

Some of that left my body now. I wondered what I wanted from this. I started panicking again.

Just a little bit of it. 

Until I heard something fall on the floor loudly, followed my a loud ‘Fuck!’ and then ‘Sorry! I’m fine!’ Something inside of me heated up. Some loud fucking instict told me that I adored that. That I would have adored everything he could have said. That clumsiness, that loudness, that ability to go against me like he didn’t give a single fuck. 

He knew he could go nose to nose with me. 

I knew he wouldn’t back down anymore. 

‘I guess something is different.’ I told Kakashi. That moment I made up my mind. ‘I have a question.’ 

Kakashi nodded slowly, looking slightly worried. ‘Go ahead, Sasuke. I feel kind of bad for making you go along with all of this.’ 

I nodded, not really listening. ‘So- I was wondering..’ I breathed in deeply. ‘Are there any rules against colleagues dating?’ 

Kakashi’s eyes went wide. He fell into silence. 

‘What?’ 

‘I’m pretty sure Naruto is still around to ask me. On a date, I mean.’

Kakashi nodded, slightly confused. Then, very clearly, he said: ‘No. If you two want to date, I’d be very happy for you.’ 

I nodded. ‘Alright.’ 

‘It surprises me that you’d be interested in anyone. I have known you for a while and-’ 

‘About that,’ I said. Kakashi’s seemed alert, confused, somehow very happy about this all. He shouldn’t be. Come on. ‘I will probably fuck it up. Am I allowed to work in the other store if I do?’ 

‘Sasuke.. No need to be worried about that. You’ll be fine.’ 

‘We’ll see. So, am I allowed?’ 

‘Don’t fuck it up.’ 

I rolled my eyes. ‘Kakashi. Be serious.’ 

He chuckled. ‘I am. You’re allowed to work wherever you want, Sasuke. Just... don’t fuck it up.’ 

The second Kakashi walked out of the store Naruto found his way to me. He was smiling sheepishly. ‘What did he have to say?’ 

I put my phone into my bag, got the keys from behind the counter. ‘Not much.’ 

‘Alright.’ He leaned against the counter, looked at the clock hanging above it. ‘So I was wondering. Would you like to go out for dinner today? Actually-’ He rubbed his neck, like he always did when nervous, ‘doesn’t have to be today. I mean, I would like to take you out for dinner today but another day is fine too.’ 

He was being an idiot. ‘Today is fine.’ 

‘I- Yeah?’ he sounded excited about it. A bright grin spread all over his face.

I must admit that excitement bubbled up inside of me as well. Though I’d never admit that to him. ‘Sure.’ 

‘Awesome!’ He turned around and walked towards his own stuff. ‘Oh-’ then turned around again. ‘Are you finished here?’ 

‘Yeah, I’m ready.’ Though I wished I would have something more to do, something that could calm my beating heart. 

I didn’t. 

I pulled on my jacket, put all of my stuff inside of my bag, and waited for Naruto to do the same. Nerves welling up inside of me. Luckily Naruto seemed nervous all the same, though for him that meant talking even more. ‘So- eh- my friend runs a really good barbecue place, I was thinking we could go there. You do eat meat, right? You never really mentioned it before.’ 

‘I eat meat. It’s fine.’ 

He nodded excitedly. ‘Can I hold your hand?’ 

‘Are you an idiot?’ 

He grinned. ‘Jup.’ 

‘Hm.. try again later.’ 

He laughed brightly, opening the door for me to walk through. ‘You’re such an asshole.’ 

I shrugged. ‘You’re the one who likes me.’ 

‘Because you’re very very likeable.’ 

I snorted. ‘At least think of a realistic reason to like me.’

Naruto bumped his shoulder against mine, naturally leading the way we had to walk to get to this restaurant of his. ‘Like what?’ 

‘Like, that I’m hot.’ 

He laughed brightly. ‘Well that’s not the reason I like you. Though I won’t deny it.’ I rolled my eyes at him, he saw this as a sign for him to keep on talking. ‘I think you’re funny and smart.’ 

‘You’re going to make me hurl.’ 

‘Hey! You asked, asshole!’ 

‘I take it back. Never flirt with me again.’ 

‘Sucks to be you. You agreed on dinner, I’m going to compliment you. Those are the rules.’ 

‘Last time I checked, there were no such rules.’ 

‘Just made them up. Sorry to break it to you. These are the rules now, no way to get around them.’ When I looked at him he was grinning happily, almost laughing. Maybe he had meant it when he had said he thought I was funny. I couldn’t actually imagine anyone thinking that; I didn’ exactly see myself as someone who’s funny. 

But he seemed to mean it. 

He genuinely seemed to like me. 

‘Oh- We’re here.’ 

Naruto beamed when walking in. From the open kitchen a thick looking guy yelled a happy: ‘Hey, Naruto!’ The guy waved excitedly, a big spoon in his hand. 

Naruto waved back happily. “Yo, Chouji!’ and then softly told me: ‘This is his family’s shop. He’s running the place a few days a week now. I’ve actually known him since elementary school, so it’s really cool to see him being the boss around here.’ I nodded slowly, Naruto grinned. ‘You remember my roommate I told you about? The one that’s now living with his girlfriend, you know. That’s his best friend. Honestly, they’re awesome together.’ 

‘Hm..’ 

‘Sorry, I’m rambling.’ 

‘No.. that’s fine.’ And it was. I liked to hear more about him. I wanted to understand why he was the kind of guy who could enjoy my company. He led me to a table in the back. The shop had a warm and traditionally Asian atmosphere. Most of the furniture was made of wood. In the middle of our table there was a small grill. ‘This is a nice place.’ I mumbled. 

I hadn’t gone to a lot of restaurants since I’d lost the majority of contact with my parents. I’d sometimes go out to eat with Itachi but that too was.. similar to what we’d do when we had lived with our parents. 

‘Really? I’m glad you like it! I was afraid you’d only like fancy places, to be honest.’ 

I looked at the chopsticks on the table. His words made me nervous. ‘I used to go to the fanciest places.. but since I haven’t been living with my parents I’ve kind of.. not liked that.’ 

Naruto nodded. ‘I get that.’ 

‘I might take my brother here sometime. He’d appreciate it.’ 

Now Naruto was grinning again. I still felt incredibly nervous. ‘You have a brother?’ 

‘I do. He’s, well, he’s something else. He cares.’ 

‘Sounds good to me. What, is he super intense too?’ 

I chuckled. ‘If you think I’m intense then you probably can’t even imagine what my brother is like.’ 

Naruto’s eyes lit up. ‘So, like you but more intense. Like.. ten times more, or more than that?’ 

‘Way more.’ 

Naruto chuckled. ‘That’s awesome. I’d like to meet him one day.’ 

‘You’re insane.’ 

Naruto laughed, rolled his eyes. ‘Duh, we been knew.’ He was a freaking idiot. He knew that. I adored that. 

Then, the thick man from before, Chouji, came to stand next to the table. He had one big plate of meat and one with vegetables in his hands. ‘I brought the double portion of your usual, Naruto, that alright?’ 

Naruto nodded. Said a happy: ‘Yeah, sure!’ 

‘What can I get you guys to drink?’ 

‘Beer!’ Naruto said excitedly. 

‘Water, please.’ I mumbled. 

‘Sure.’ Chouji smiled at me and held out his hand. He had a warm atmosphere to him. I wondered if all of ‘I’m Chouji, by the way.’

I took it. He seemed excited to meet me. ‘Sasuke.’ 

‘Ah- so you’re Sasuke. Naruto has told us a lot about you.’ 

Naruto basically yelped: ‘Chouji! Shut up.’ 

Chouji blushed and chuckled lightly. ‘Just glad to finally meet you, Sasuke.’ And with that he turned around and walked back towards the kitchen. I stared at Naruto, probably having the cockiest smirk on my face. So he had been worried about me, and told his friends about it. 

‘So you talked about me, hm?’ 

Naruto blushed. ‘Of course! Do you have any fucking idea how worried I was about you hating me! I liked you so fucking much and you-’ He shut himself up, only blushing even brighter. ‘Eh- I mean.’ 

‘No. That was clear.’ 

He blushed, took his chopsticks and put one piece of meat on the grill. ‘Sorry.’ 

‘Don’t be.’ 

‘No?’ 

I sat back, took a piece of courgette for myself and put it on the grill. I couldn’t help but smile a little.‘No. Don’t worry about it.’ 

He nodded, slowly, and then asked the daredevil question he had wanted to ask: ‘What does that mean, for us?’ 

‘It means that we’re on a date, right?’ 

I had seen Naruto smile a lot.. but this was probably the biggest one so far. 

We chatted during dinner. Though Naruto did most of the talking, he had me opening up as well. I showed him a picture of Itachi, and then of the cat we used to have. Naruto told me about his love for frogs, about how he would die for a good bowl of ramen noodles at all times. Then I asked him about his family, and Naruto turned to the grill as if it was the most interesting thing in the entire world. 

I knew that look better than anything in the world. 

‘Naruto, you don’t have to tell me about them. Don’t worry about it.’

Naruto shook his head, taking another sip of his beer before speaking up. ‘No, I guess that it’s fine. I can tell you about Iruka.’ 

‘Iruka?’ 

‘Yes! He, uhm, he took me in when I was twelve years old. I never got around to seeing him as my dad, really, but we’re close. I stayed with him until I was nineteen, and those were the best years.’ 

I nodded. So Naruto had basically been adopted. I assumed that his story from before he was twelve was a lot more sad, so I wanted to know more about the things that made him happy. ‘Tell me about Iruka.’ 

Naruto got some of the meat from the grill and put them on my plate. A smile played on his lips while thinking about what to say. ‘He’s actually kind of stern. Like.. he yells, but he never actually gets angry.’ Naruto sipped his beer. ‘He’s a teacher, and sometimes it’s not that hard to notice. When I came into his class, he basically fought to let people take me in, but he wasn’t allowed to while he was still teaching my class, you know.’ Naruto was now almost grinning. ‘But he could see that I was going through fucking hell. He got me extremely motivated to pass my tests, so that I could go to the next class, and he took me in as soon as they allowed him to.’ 

‘He sounds awesome.’ 

‘Hm, yeah definitely.’ Naruto said. He put his hand on the table, open. I smirked and did the same with mine, allowing him to hold me, like he so obviously wanted. 

‘Itachi punched my dad, once.’ 

Naruto laughed. ‘Sick.’ 

‘My dad said I was worthless, and it would have hurt me-’ 

Naruto snorted. ‘I’d have punched the bastard in his face as well.’ 

‘I know, but our family isn’t like that. Itachi listens, he's calm and collected.’ I bit my lip at the memory. ‘But something snapped. When I came around after not talking to them for quite some time- and my dad called me _that-_ Itachi snapped. None of us saw it coming but it was awesome. Honestly, I never even think about what my dad thinks, I just think about Itachi.’ 

Naruto nodded happily. ‘I feel that! It’s like, when I think about not being wanted because of the first twelve years, I think about Iruka.’ 

I nodded slowly. That’s what it reminded me of too. ‘After that I started talking to Itachi again. He fixed things with my parents, had to, but we talk these days.’ 

Naruto squeezed my hand. ‘I’m proud of you.’ 

‘Why?’ 

‘Everything. You’re here. Not listening to anyone but yourself. You’re awesome.’ 

I snorted. ‘Shut up.’ 

‘Accept it, Sasuke. You’re cool.’ 

‘Pfft, we knew that already.’ 

Naruto walked me home, probably because he was cheesy and he wanted to kiss me in front of my house. I let him. He pretended to be smooth. He paid for our dinner, way less than we were supposed to pay, because his friends were nice. 

While leaving Naruto got spammed with texts, he opened his phone. ‘Chouji leaked.’ He mumbled. I chuckled slightly and looked at the screen he was holding up at me. I saw all kinds of names, a group chat called _‘bigass tree &a sandbox’, _ and a message from someone called Ino saying: ‘ _Naruto!! You took the hot guy out!?’_

I chuckled. ‘You’ve been calling me the hot guy, hm?’ 

Naruto laughed. ‘Whatever. I’m in too deep to deny any of it.’

I read on. Chouji said: _‘Ino! I asked you not to tell!’_ and then there was a big storm of messages saying: _‘Fuck yeah, Naruto!’, ‘TAP THAT, MY BOI!’_ and _‘I hope it works~’_ and things along those lines. 

‘Please remind me to never hang out with your friends, ever.’ 

Naruto laughed, shoved his phone back into his pocket, and took my hand in his. ‘Yeah, no.’ 

‘Such a loyal guy.’ 

‘You know it.’ He tangled his fingers with mine, stared at me like I was the goddamn stars, and he was trying to figure out how I became the way I am. ‘You don’t have to hang out with anyone though.. I- I know I can be intense. Just tell me to stop whenever. I won’t be offended.’ 

‘I’m capable of taking care of me.’ 

Naruto grinned. ‘I know, I know. Sorry.’ 

‘Are you going to text them back?’ We were almost at my apartment. I slowed my pace. I really didn’t want this to end yet. 

Naruto stopped when I did, turned to look at me. ‘Nah, let’s leave them guessing for a bit.’ 

‘They might think we’re fucking right this second.’ 

Naruto grinned. ‘They definitely will. They’re dramatic.’

I nodded, nerves suddenly hit my body, now that it was up to me to pick. ‘I’m- this is me.’ I told him, nodding at my apartment building. 

‘Yeah-’ Naruto mumbled, taking my other hand into his as well. ‘I had fun.’ 

That sounded an awful lot like a goodbye. Too much, way too much. ‘Did you come here to kiss me?’ 

Naruto laughed softly. ‘I- yeah, I did.’ 

‘Do it then, idiot.’ 

Naruto nodded, reached out to me and took my cheek in his hand. ‘Alright,’ He whispered, then he pulled me in closer. I met him halfway, pushing my lips against his softly. Naruto wasn’t about to kiss me as deep as he could. He caressed my lips. His hand tangled into my hair. 

I pushed against him, deepening this kiss. He moaned slightly. I could feel his smile on my lips. He was smiling because of my touch. That was crazy. 

He was the first one to pull back, putting his forehead against mine. ‘Good night, Sasuke.’ 

‘Yeah..’ I mumbled. ‘See you tomorrow.’ 

‘Hm.. in the bookstore.’ 

‘Yeah, I’ll make you some coffee.’ 

I nodded slowly, not yet letting go of him. I fucking wanted him to make me coffee all the time. No matter how much I wanted him to make me my first cup; I wouldn’t make it to the store without my cup of coffee for breakfast. 

So I.. held onto him? I said ‘Fuck this,’ and then dragged him with me into my apartment building. Naruto walked with me, looking surprised as hell. He was dragging his feet. I pulled him in by his hand, but pushed him against the door by his collar. ‘You make me lose my mind, Uzumaki.’ 

Naruto stared at me, wide eyed. ‘Is that a good thi-’ I interrupted him by pushing my lips against his again. He let his hand slide into my hair, pulled it softly. 

I pulled back again, Naruto still leaning into the kiss. ‘Come upstairs with me.’ It wasn’t much of a question, but Naruto still nodded. Which I was kind of happy about, I was really just doing whatever. 

We held hands while walking up the stairs. That was actually kind of hard, considering how we didn’t manage to walk at each other’s pace at all. I was basically dragging Naruto, and he mainly seemed overwhelmed by that. 

‘Sasuke..’ I opened my door for him, the second he spoke up. He looked around my open apartment. The walls were all white, but every single wall had bookshelves, endlessly filled with all kinds of books. ‘Holyshit,’ he whispered. 

‘What?’ 

‘Your apartment is so.. you.’ 

‘Is that good?’ 

Naruto turned around, pushed me against the nearest wall and let his lips travel to my neck. He softly licked the skin underneath my ear. ‘You’re amazing.’ 

‘You keep saying that-’ it almost sounded like a moan. I couldn’t hold it back, not when he was being like this. 

‘I’ll keep meaning it.’ He said, softly. 

‘Naruto-’ I complained. He ignored me, brought his lips back to mine, kissing me deeply. He moved his hips against mine, he was already hard. The gasp coming from my lips was out before I could even notice. Shivers traveled through my body, not about to leave my skin anytime soon.

‘Where’s your bedroom?’ 

I smirked, deciding to fuck around a little. ‘Hm.. why?’ 

He put his arm against my chest, making sure I was trapped between him and the wall. Then he pushed his hips forward and licked my lips without a care in the world. ‘Because if you don’t tell me I’ll fuck you right into this wall.’ 

‘I-’ That’s when my resolve crumbled. Fuck. Holy fucking shit. ‘To your left.’ 

Naruto grabbed my hand, started walking.

‘But-’ I whispered. Naruto looked around, slightly scared that I didn’t want this– obviously. Maybe he was thinking stupid shit about being _too much_ again. No way. Not with me. ‘I wouldn’t mind getting fucking against the wall.. by you.’ 

That’s when Naruto had found my bedroom. ‘We can do both.’ He whispered. He pulled me in and pushed me against the bedroom wall, with my chest against the cold white stone, playfully. 

My brain might as well have completely crashed. His sudden change in additude and voice might as well have made me cum right that second, against that fucking wall. 

But Naruto wouldn’t let that happen. He pushed my, and his, pants down. I gasped out. He let his dick touch my ass slightly, let his hands grab my cock playfully. I leaned my forehead against the wall, moaned softly. 

‘Do you like that, Sasuke?’ 

‘Hm..’ 

‘I’m going to go ahead and assume that’s a yes.’ He whispered while slowly, but roughly, pulling my dick again. Then another time, and again. I pushed back against him. My ass sliding against his (most likely painful) hard on. Naruto leaned his forehead against my back. ‘Fuck- Sasuke.’ 

He wasn’t the only one who could be a tease. 

I rolled my hips against his ass, he moaned out. ‘Such a gorgeous fucking bastard.’ 

‘A what now?’ 

Naruto grabbed my hip roughly, pulled me against his. ‘ You heard me. Do you have lube here?’ 

I nodded, pointing to the nightstand. Naruto left me for a second, making me feel empty as hell. It was cold without him holding me. When Naruto had found the bottle, he softly took my hand and dragged me towards the bed. Hm, so he wasn’t planning on fucking me against the wall the first time. 

That was fine. 

I wouldn’t want this to feel like a quick fuck in any way. 

‘Sasuke..’ He leaned in, kissed me deeply while pushing me onto the bed. I got swept of my fucking feet all over again. ‘Are you sure you want this?’ 

‘I was the one who initiated.’ 

Naruto stared at me, trying to figure me out. Our throbbing dicks were waiting impatiently in between us. Naruto didn’t seem all too bothered by it. 

Of course the fucking idiot wanted to _talk._

‘That’s not an answer.’ 

I rolled my eyes, then pulled his hips against mine as rough as I could. ‘I want you to fuck me until I can’t stand anymore. Is that a fucking answer to you, Naruto?’ 

Naruto grinned happily. ‘Sound like an answer to me.’ 

‘You’re such an-’ Before I could say anything more, Naruto had pushed my legs up and opened the bottle of lube with his teeth. That shut me right the fuck up. He balanced my legs on his shoulders, and slowly pushed one finger inside of me. For a bit he fingered me with one, then put a second finger in in no time at all. I moaned loudly. Naruto smirked at my reaction, his dick impatiently pushing against me. 

‘Just fuck me,’ I grunted. 

‘Impatient,’ he replied cockily. 

‘Fuck off.’ 

He grinned, pushed in his third finger and pulled them in and outside of me. He did so sensually, carefully. ‘Don’t fucking act like I’m breakable.’ 

Naruto chuckled and quickly pulled his fingers out. I ached against him, somehow wanting nothing more than him back inside of me. Being able to feel him again. Until he put his dick against my entrance. My entire body tensed up, shivered, turned, tumbled into another universe. He just said a cocky: ‘Don’t worry, I’m not planning on going easy on you.’ And with that, he pushed his dick inside of me roughly. He filled me up completely. I screamed out, though my vocie sounded so fucking far away.  
Naruto was big. He knew that. He breathed out slowly, then he opened his eyes and stared at me intensely. ‘You okay?’ 

I bit my lip, tried to find my breath again. Then I nodded. ‘Move.’ I said. 

Naruto waited a second longer. ‘Are you sure-’ 

‘Are you all talk or wha-’ Then, pretty damn recklessly, he pushed inside of me. His whole damn cock at once. My entire body ached. I tried to grab onto something- anything. Naruto kept on moving. I moaned out like I hadn’t done in my entire fucking life. I needed something to bite– something to– Naruto put his hand on my lips, I opened my mouth and let his fingers fill my mouth. 

There he was, filling every single bit of me and making me feel– safe while doing so. 

He thrusted inside of me roughly, moaning out loudly. ‘Ah- Sasuke!’ My heart stopped every single time he moaned my name. 

I tried to move with him, but it was as if my body was too overwhelmed to do anything at all. All I could do was reach out to him, pull him in for a deep kiss. That kiss was my comfort; it felt like a promise that he’d take care of me. 

Such a promise was quite something, especially while being fucked into the mattress so damn roughly. 

It was confusing as hell, it had me hot, nervous, hopeful. 

‘You’re beautiful,’ Naruto said. 

I opened my eyes to look at him. He was smiling softly, like he loved me. Sweat dripped from his forehead. He pushed into me rougher and rougher. ‘So fucking– gorgeous.’ 

I grabbed his hair, pulled it roughly. ‘Sasuke– fuck– I-’ and then he moved slower. He brought his lips to my neck and pumped his dick into me, his teeth grinding against my neck, probably leaving a big mark. 

‘Sasuke– holy– fuck, Sasuke–’ his moans came out between licks, sucks on my neck. As if he wanted to stop himself from moaning too loudly and failed miserably. 

At the touch of his lips against mine, his voice, I came before he did. I bit my lip. Moaned softly. ‘Ah–hmpf, Naru–’ I came against his stomach. That made Naruto lose it. He fell onto my body. Moaned loudly. He called out my name, put his hand in my hair and pulled it. 

I put my own hand on his cheeks, pulled him in for a kiss and he, he came for that soft touch. 

That was so much like him that it was almost funny. 

Then when everything became still – when he laid on me, couldn’t move but breathed heavily – I caressed his hair softly. I studied the way his chest felt on mine. I could feel the cum in between our bellies, the cum inside of me, and somehow I couldn’t even care.

The way he breathed, allowed me to touch his hair softly, was the most interesting thing in the world. “Sasuke..’ he whispered against my neck.

‘Hm?’ 

‘Have I ever told you that you’re fucking amazing?’ 

I chuckled hoarsely. ‘Only like, every single day.’ 

The next morning I woke up from my alarm, Naruto didn’t. That didn’t surprise me in the least. I turned it off. Against my back there was a warm weight. Naruto’s arm was wrapped around my stomach, his legs were obnoxiously covering every single bit of the bed (including me.) I was snoring slightly, something I hadn’t expected to adore, but now here I was. 

When I pulled back he moaned slightly, just to look at Naruto. He was sleeping so soundly. 

I tried to grasp what was happening, what had happened since yesterday. 

Me, that sad kid who was kicked out for loving literature and guys, sleeping in with a beautiful fucking guy. Getting ready to run a goddamn bookstore together. Him and I. Naruto, a happy ball of absolute energy, ready to fuck my grumpy mood up and get himself a smile. 

Here I was- smiling down at his stupid face. 

When I pulled back, Naruto moaned a complaint, but eventually let go of me. He rolled around and mumbled something I couldn’t possibly understand. 

I stood up silently, took my slippers from underneath the bed, and glanced at Naruto one more time. It was my time to show him, to take care of him. 

_I could do this thing._

I pulled the blanket on top of Naruto a little further, and then walked towards my kitchen. My apartment looked new, somehow. Light was shining through my big windows and the entire place felt more alive. Something reckless inside of me thought about living with Naruto, waking up with him like this every single morning, a house becoming like our bookstore felt. 

_Focus._ I walked towards my coffee machine. The taste would probably not be to Naruto liking; though he didn’t seem like someone who’d actually care about that. 

I took out a coffee pod and put it in the machine, waited for the water to warm. I breathed in slowly while waiting, trying to feel my body. It was aching, it felt warm. I could still feel Naruto’s fingertips on my skin. I probably looked the part too. 

When the machine was done warming up, I put two cups underneath and pushed the button. I got out two croissants, and picked some jam from the fridge. _I could do this. I could love, take care of someone. I could keep someone close._

When the coffee was finished I balanced the cups on the plates, and like that I walked towards the bedroom. Naruto woke up at the sound of the door closing. He looked up, confused, but then softly whispered: ‘Sasuke, hey.’ 

‘Morning.’ 

He pushed himself up. His hair was a big fucking mess, his eyes were small. I had never seen anyone look so.. so much like a home. 

‘I got breakfast,’ I said. ‘The coffee is not amazing, but it’ll have to do.’ 

Naruto grinned brightly, bit his lip. ‘You look beautiful. I’m sure the coffee will taste the best.’ 

‘I wouldn’t put your hopes up.’ 

Naruto chuckled, took the plate from my hand. ‘I hadn’t expected this.. to ever happen.’ He admitted, his voice soft. 

‘What? Fucking me?’ 

‘Ah- that too.’ He chuckled, put his leg on top of mine, snuggled his side against me. ‘But mainly.. you bringing me coffee in the morning, looking gorgeous as hell by the way. 

‘Don’t worry. You’ll be making up for it at work.’ 

‘It would be my pleasure.’ 

I leaned against him, balancing my plate on my lap. Naruto did the same thing, holding his coffee with one hand and searching mine with his other one. Once he was holding me, he sipped his coffee slowly. ‘This is so fucking good.’ 

‘Shut up.’ 

‘I mean it! It’s the best coffee I’ve ever had.’ He kissed the side of my head. ‘I can taste the secret ingredient.’ 

‘If you’re going to say lo-’ 

‘It’s love!’ he said loudly, laughing brightly. 

I stomped my shoulder against his. ‘I used no such thing.’ 

‘You big fat liar. You sprinkled this coffee with nothing but love.’ 

‘I have never had an emotion.’ 

Naruto was laughing at me, pushing his nose against my neck, my cheek. ‘None?’ He snuggled his nose against my ear, kissed my earlobe softly. He whispered. ‘And now?’ 

‘Nope.’ 

He moved to my lips, took my jaw into his hand, and kissed me as soft as he possibly could. I could feel his smile on my lips, his breath on my skin. ‘Hm?’ He moaned very softly, to ask me about it again.

‘Okay, I might have sprinkled a bit of love on top.’ 

Naruto pulled back, then drank all of his coffee at once. He moaned loudly once he had finished the cup: ‘Ah! That was good as hell.’ 

‘You’re so fucking disgusting.’ 

‘Whatever, save that talk for someone you’re not sprinkling with love.’ 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked that! Comments make me very happy. 
> 
> I have an coffeeshop playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4TLlE9g3pES7ZnQLHyRaXg?si=3K36d7m1QgyX9JbGIuyiEQ
> 
> And I also have playlists for Sasuke ( https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FQzcKRQw8zgnS8N9ynRgh?si=_65zseQ2RoqqyPNI2wDrBg ) and Naruto ( https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6nUail8Ps030et4qEqKfVW?si=vy8cLHvmR5ynLIyctlGStQ )


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